Ken Hillier was one of the pioneers in boating and waterskiing in the Central Florida area. While in the Air Force he built his first boat and water skis in 1953 at the Orlando Air Force Base wood shop. Then he taught his wife Marie and son Roland how to ski. It wasn't until 1957 that he created KenFlite Marine to build custom boats and skis for locals. His first introduction to competition skiing was 1959 watching the Junior Dixie Championships between ski shows held at Cypress Gardens, Florida This tournament sparked his interest The very next weekend, he took his family to the Lakeland Open held on Lake Hollingsworth and after that the whole family was hooked.

Fast forward a few years and he was now involved with the AWSA taking the required prerequisites to become a Senior Judge. He completed the usual three years in two by going to two regional tournaments in one year, the Southern and Eastern Regionals. To promote the AWSA he helped form the first water ski clubs in the Orlando area, the Orlando Ski Club and the Winter Park Ski Club which later combined to become the Orlando/Winter Park Ski Club. They put on ski shows, towing a portable ski jump to other towns in the area. The club put on several tournaments which also included the Florida State Championship held in Winter Park, Florida which he competed in and judged.

He also built an official tournament towboat using the lower portion of a Hydrodyne boat he got from the factory using twin Mercury outboard engines for power. This boat was used for club ski shows, AWSA tournaments and the Masters. He competed in the Sr. Men Division during the 1960's and 70's but he was far more interested in judging, coaching and promoting the AWSA.

To promote Collegiate events, he became coach of the 1967 Rollins College Tars Water Ski Team where he also judged at collegiate events including the National Collegiate Tournaments at Cypress Garden in the 1960's and early 70's with Stew McDonald, Elmer Stailing, Harry Robb and others. He also coached the water ski program at the prestigious privately owned summer camp in the Adirondack Mountains of New York called Moss Lake Camp for Girls and another prestigious camp years later near Lake George, New York called Camp Timlo for Boys and Girls.

The water skis and binders he built were used by two World Overall Champions, Billy Spencer, 1963/64, Vichy, France and his son Roland, 1965/66, Queensland, Australia along with the 1963 Boys National Slalom Champion, Roy Falcon, Long Beach, California. The ski and binder design also helped Roland set a new Men's slalom record of 4 buoys with 18 feet off the line at 38 miles per hour at the 1962 Western Hemisphere Invitational Tournament held in Miami, Florida while still in the Boys division. 

In 1967 his son joined the Air Force and stopped skiing at the highest level of competition, but Ken continued his judging for several more years. He was considered to be a very strict judge that followed the rules closely but fairly. Those that knew him will probably agree. He passed on September 11th, 2011, in Gainesville, Florida.